Abuse of Working Children and Influencing Factors, Turkey

Objective: The study was planned as the research of the kind/kinds of abuse and the factors influencing the abuse that the children under 18 who are working full-time at a workplace and enrolled in a vocational training center subjected to.

Method: Questionnaires were administered to 595 apprentices who were attending a vocational training center.

Results: It was determined that totally 62.5% of the apprentices are subjected to abuse at their workplaces -21.8% physical, 53.6% emotional and 25.2% sexual-, 100% of them are subjected to physical neglect, and 28.7% of them are subjected to emotional neglect. While being subjected to abuse in the family increases all kinds of abuse; divorced parents, being male, low wage of the apprentice increase the possibility of the physical abuse at a work place; the low family income and the extended working time of the apprentice increase the possibility of sexual abuse. Working conditions and workplace characteristics, evaluated within the context of physical neglect are bad in all apprentices. In all kinds of abuse, employer abuse is higher than other people at work.

Conclusion: In spite of their being legally protected in theory, the children who are being employed with labor contracts can not benefit from this protection practically at their workplaces. It is seen that most apprentices are subjected to abuse and neglect. Employment of the children is an area which is open to exploitation. It is necessary to prevent the abuse of working children and workplaces should be constantly inspected. The relation between domestic abuse and workplace abuse demonstrates that families occupy the key point in the vicious circle of violence.